Responding to comments

[Bad_Kitty3000]

I’m a new author on this site and have only published one story so far. I have several comments from readers and I wasn’t sure what the protocol was for responding or not. Unless I’m missing something it looks like you can only comment a general comment and not a direct reply to a certain comment? Is that correct? What do most authors do?

 

[Djmac1031]

It's not Twitter or Facebook, that's for sure.

Basically yes, you can only really just reply in the comments section generally.

You can at least mention who you're responding to of course.

Odds are they won't read it though. They won't be notified and most readers never check back.

You could try clicking their profile and sending them a direct message if responding is that important to you.

 

[Bad_Kitty3000]

Oh ok, thank you this is very helpful. I just wasn’t sure if it was rude to not comment back. But good to know that it’s not really expected.

 

[Djmac1031]

Oh ok, thank you this is very helpful. I just wasn’t sure if it was rude to not comment back. But good to know that it’s not really expected.

Yeah, again, it's not like most social media, where it's designed for a conversation between people.

If you're lucky enough for a reader to have left a comment, be happy. Even comments are very rare for most.

I'd say reserve your efforts for readers who also Follow you. You can always reach out through their profiles if it's important to you.

But generally, no; most readers just comment and move on and responses from authors aren't really expected.

 

[RejectReality]

Threaded comments are on the books as a future feature, but for now, there's no reply ability.

 

[bumpercars]

I reply to comments by posting a new comment and starting with the name of the person I'm replying to.

Most people don't reply, but occasionally they do, and even when they don't I feel good about having thanked them or responded to their question.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I’m a new author on this site and have only published one story so far. I have several comments from readers and I wasn’t sure what the protocol was for responding or not. Unless I’m missing something it looks like you can only comment a general comment and not a direct reply to a certain comment? Is that correct? What do most authors do?

I try to reply to all comments. I figure if they took the effort to write something. I reply to criticism as well, so long as it not ad hominem.

With the absence of any [very basic] functionality to either reply to a comment, or even use a username - e.g. @EmilyMiller - I start any reply with “@username” (even @anon) to make clear who it’s directed at.

Some people read my replies, but it’s certainly the minority.

Em

 

[EmilyMiller]

I try to reply to all comments. I figure if they took the effort to write something. I reply to criticism as well, so long as it not ad hominem.

With the absence of any [very basic] functionality to either reply to a comment, or even use a username - e.g. @EmilyMiller - I start any reply with “@username” (even @anon) to make clear who it’s direct at.

Some people read my replies, but it’s certainly the minority.

Em

Wow! “anon” is a username - who knew?

Em

 

[bumpercars]

Wow! “anon” is a username - who knew?

Em

This reminds me of a story. Someone in California got the vanity plate "Null" because they thought it would make it impossible to get traffic tickets - the computer would assume that Null meant no license plate was available, and they'd get away cackling.

Instead, it worked the other way - every traffic ticket in California for which the license plate was missing or invalid was assigned to them. They got like a $30k traffic ticket bill the first month.

 

[BgDaddy33]

I reply to comments by posting a new comment and starting with the name of the person I'm replying to.

Most people don't reply, but occasionally they do, and even when they don't I feel good about having thanked them or responded to their question.

This has been my experience as well. Granted I don't have that many comments to respond to but without a notification to the original commenter I don't see them going anywhere and only inflated my comment count, which wasn't what I was going for.

I tried sending some DMs but never heard anything back. Equally, some DMs sent to me just went to my email and I mostly missed them when they went to spam (does the forum app fix that?)

Perhaps this experience is different for some of the more popular authors here with larger followings, which I can see happening.

To address the original poster here, I get the impression that like @Djmac1031 said, replies probably will not be seen and are not really expected. However, showing your followers that feedback was read, appreciated, and considered is probably worth the effort.

 

[Djmac1031]

To address the original poster here, I get the impression that like @Djmac1031 said, replies probably will not be seen and are not really expected. However, showing your followers that feedback was read, appreciated, and considered is probably worth the effort.

Just to clarify; i see no harm in replying to comments, and I have in fact done so myself.

Especially if the comment also includes a question of some sort. I'll at least try to answer it. If the reader comes back to check for that answer, great. And on rare occasions they have, and leave another comment.

I just personally don't knock myself out to reply to EVERY comment. Especially since the bulk of them would basically be "Thanks for your comment, I appreciate it."

I almost always write an AFTERWARDS at the end of my stories where I encourage readers to leave comments and feedback, and I take a moment there to both thank them for reading and thank them in advance for any comments.

 

[BgDaddy33]

Just to clarify; i see no harm in replying to comments, and I have in fact done so myself.

Especially if the comment also includes a question of some sort. I'll at least try to answer it. If the reader comes back to check for that answer, great. And on rare occasions they have, and leave another comment.

I just personally don't knock myself out to reply to EVERY comment. Especially since the bulk of them would basically be "Thanks for your comment, I appreciate it."

I almost always write an AFTERWARDS at the end of my stories where I encourage readers to leave comments and feedback, and I take a moment there to both thank them for reading and thank them in advance for any comments.

Great clarification. I agree with all of this.

 

[bumpercars]

I just personally don't knock myself out to reply to EVERY comment. Especially since the bulk of them would basically be "Thanks for your comment, I appreciate it."

You're right about lots of replies being similar, but there's nothing wrong with thanking a dozen people using similar words if you mean it every time. Putting a thank you in the afterwords section is a valid approach, too, though.

 

[NoTalentHack]

I’m a new author on this site and have only published one story so far. I have several comments from readers and I wasn’t sure what the protocol was for responding or not. Unless I’m missing something it looks like you can only comment a general comment and not a direct reply to a certain comment? Is that correct? What do most authors do?

Dooooo not respond to comments in Loving Wives. I say this as... well, look at my title. That way lies madness.

 

[Bad_Kitty3000]

Lol! I see that! Good to know, and I wasn’t going to poke the bear anyway by arguing with the negative commenters. It actually made me laugh. The fact that people but time and energy into telling you you suck instead of just not reading is so funny to me. But yeah it’s the internet and it’s not my first day, so I’m ok with it.
Thank you for the warning!

 

[EmilyMiller]

This reminds me of a story. Someone in California got the vanity plate "Null" because they thought it would make it impossible to get traffic tickets - the computer would assume that Null meant no license plate was available, and they'd get away cackling.

Instead, it worked the other way - every traffic ticket in California for which the license plate was missing or invalid was assigned to them. They got like a $30k traffic ticket bill the first month.

If true, that is so funny

 

[EmilyMiller]

Dooooo not respond to comments in Loving Wives. I say this as... well, look at my title. That way lies madness.

One of the nice comments I got in LW was something like: “and you respond to comments, no one else does that!”

Novelty value I guess .

Em

 

[EmilyMiller]

I’m a new author on this site and have only published one story so far. I have several comments from readers and I wasn’t sure what the protocol was for responding or not. Unless I’m missing something it looks like you can only comment a general comment and not a direct reply to a certain comment? Is that correct? What do most authors do?

Sorry - so rude - should have said welcome .

Em

 

[Bad_Kitty3000]

You are not rude. Thank you!

 

[bumpercars]

If true, that is so funny

https://www.wired.com/story/null-license-plate-landed-one-hacker-ticket-hell/

 

[TheDeepThinker]

This reminds me of a story. Someone in California got the vanity plate "Null" because they thought it would make it impossible to get traffic tickets - the computer would assume that Null meant no license plate was available, and they'd get away cackling.

Instead, it worked the other way - every traffic ticket in California for which the license plate was missing or invalid was assigned to them. They got like a $30k traffic ticket bill the first month.

I consider this a great big FU to everyone who disses on the programming languages that allow NULL.

As far as "anon" being a username, I'm not surprised. Good luck trying to find any online registration system where every simple word in the English dictionary hasn't been taken. The only question is whether it is being used by an actual person or is simply reserved for testing.

I always take the time to reply to any comments. Serious readers will check if they have any questions, which means you might be able to preemptively address criticism. I've had a few people up their scores because of that.
Plus, it opens up so many opportunities for counter-trolling by being unfailingly polite and pretending to misunderstand insults.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Once or twice after a particularly nice comment, I have reached out to the commenter through the instant feedback function. Once the person responded and we had a very nice conversation about erotica in general.

 

[genzsub]

What about direct feedback that comes into your email? I've gotten some nice feedback like that and would like to respond, but I don't want them to have my email address. How have others handled that?

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

What about direct feedback that comes into your email? I've gotten some nice feedback like that and would like to respond, but I don't want them to have my email address. How have others handled that?

Make an alt email address made specifically to handle your smut related emails and link that to your lit profile. That's what I do.

 

[genzsub]

Make an alt email address made specifically to handle your smut related emails and link that to your lit profile. That's what I do.

I have that. I guess I just didn't want to give that one out either if I could get away with it. Maybe I should loosen up a bit